


Write Your Name In Kindness

by Marlon



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Kiss, First Meetings, M/M, accidental meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 16:21:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19794562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marlon/pseuds/Marlon
Summary: Today is supposed to be Kylo's day off but instead, he's standing out on the street corner trying to hand out pamphlets for the Organa Foundation, the environmental protection group founded by his grandparents. The day is going terribly but a chance encounter with a lovely, red-haired stranger has the potential to change his life forever.





	Write Your Name In Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this story on my flight to Dublin and it's based off a video retweeted by Twitter user OllietheVast, and then CalicoJinx saw the video and said "kylux au!" and this story was born! Please enjoy :)

Kylo hates pamphlet duty. He hates it.

It’s dull and ineffective - people are either rude or they completely ignore him. In a couple of instances, some people have actually crossed the street to avoid him.

However, Rey had wanted to keep the pipeline issue at the forefront of people's minds so that meant pamphlet duty on Kylo's day off. 

This particular section of the downtown core is a ghost town this time of the morning. On any given Friday, by mid-morning, most people are already tucked away in their offices or have taken an early long weekend. Kylo gazes down the narrow alley created by the glittering skyscrapers to the sliver of water he can see at the end of the street. Beyond the downtown, the north shore mountains rise gracefully, their peaks obscured by a thick blanket of fog which usually meant that it was raining on the north shore. But, it was always raining on the north shore.

Handing out pamphlets isn't how Kylo would choose to spend his day off. He's much more effective when he's fighting it out in court against one of the oil and gas companies, sticking it to the major polluters. The Organa Foundation for Environmental Protection has worked tirelessly for decades to preserve the pristine temperate rainforests, fragile marine life, and fighting for responsible resource use up and down the coast. Rey or Finn had always been a much better ambassador for the cause than Kylo, he preferred to do his work behind the scenes but while Rey is currently up north at the blockade camp, fighting alongside their First Nations partners to stop the pipeline expansion, the duty of raising awareness of the current climate issues falls to him. Within one day, the Prime Minister had declared that the country to be in a national climate crisis, but also stated the controversial pipeline expansion would go forward. Kylo didn't see how those two things were compatible.

Movement out of the corner of his eye catches his attention and he turns to peer into the sleek onyx office tower in front of him. A tall, well-dressed man with glorious red hair is coming down the escalator, texting away frantically on his phone. He glances up and sees Kylo waiting for him out on the sidewalk. He frowns as he pops his phone into his trench coat pocket. Kylo quickly glances over his shoulder to see who the man had been glaring at but, the street is as empty as it's been all morning.

The man glides through the glass doors and Kylo takes one of the glossy brochures from his stack as he steps forward, ready to launch into his spiel. As he extends his hand, the man inexplicably takes a black sharpie pen out of his pocket, takes the flyer from Kylo, and scrawls his name across the page, right over top of the colourful pictures of orcas, baby otters, and friendly seals. He hands the paper back to Kylo without a word and brushes past him. Kylo looks down at the signature, frowning.

"Hey." he barks, "What the fuck is this?"

The man turns to look back at him, one eyebrow elegantly raised in question.

"What?"

His speech is lightly accented - English? Welsh? Whatever it is, his voice is rich and lilting, like sinking into butterscotch.

"What is this?" Kylo steps towards him, undeterred by that mellifluous voice. "I didn't want your autograph."

"Oh. I just naturally assumed." The other man blushes charmingly.

"Why would you assume that - oh my god! Do people just go around asking you for your autograph all the time?"

The man laughs, surprised. "Well, yes, sometimes.” He pauses, studying Kylo’s face. “You don't know who I am, do you?"

"Look, pal, I don't give a shit who you are." Kylo glares at the man's smiling face. "Are you a banker or something?"

"I'm definitely not, but do you think I could be?"

"How should I know?" Kylo says waspishly. "Now look, this pamphlet which you've so generously bestowed your signature on is for a call to action against the pipelines. There's a rally next weekend, and a fundraiser-"

He's cut off by a loud gasp behind him. He glances over his shoulder to see two wide-eyed young women gazing rapturously at the red-haired man in front of him. They shove past Kylo with their phones out.

"Armitage, oh my god, what are you doing here? Do you mind if we take a picture with you?"

One of the girls with long black hair holds up her phone hopefully. The man, Armitage apparently, nods, a polite smile on his face.

"Of course."

The two girls gather around him and take a photo as Kylo watches gobsmacked. They review the photo and seemed pleased.

"Thank you!" The other girl says. "You were amazing in The Orvieto Affair, you were robbed at the Oscars."

Oscars? The Orvieto Affair? What is happening right now?

"Thank you, you're too kind," Armitage says smoothly as the girls wave their farewells. They dash off down the street giggling to each other and glancing back over their shoulders at Kylo and Armitage.

"Your name is Armitage?" Kylo asks. "What kind of name is that?"

Armitage grins ruefully. “My father's idea of a hilarious joke, I suppose."

“Oh, sorry, I guess.” Kylo can sympathize, it's hard to bear the weight of parental expectations. "I'm Kylo Ren." He says after a too-long pause.

Armitage’s grin turns sharp and shark-like. “So you made fun of my name while you yourself are called Kylo Ren?” His smile widens, delighted with Kylo’s sudden blush. "So, anyway, what were you saying before we were interrupted? About the fundraiser?"

"Oh!" Kylo hands Armitage a new flyer from his stack. "We have a fundraiser dinner at the Pan Pacific hotel next week, and-" he shuffles for another flyer, "a benefit concert at the Commodore in the third week of December. Arcade Fire is the headliner." He helpfully points to the lineup of performers.

Armitage peruses the pages, looking politely interested. "I'm afraid I'm only in town until the first week of December so I'll have to miss the show."

"Well, if you look here-" Kylo turns the original flyer over, "-on the side you _didn't_ autograph, here's our foundation's website and contact information, if you want to read more."

Armitage's smile turns thoughtful as he glances up at Kylo. "And you work for this Organa Foundation?"

"I'm head legal counsel, actually," Kylo says, not trying too hard to not sound smug at subverting Armitage's expectations. He puffs up a little at the impressed look on Armitage's face. "Today's my day off and I said I'd help out while most of our people are up north."

"Your day off?" Armitage echoes faintly, a delighted grin spreading across his face, his gaze rakes up and down Kylo taking in his black jeans, plaid shirt and puffer vest, and knitted toque. "And does that time off extends to tonight as well?"

Kylo shrugs. "I suppose so. We’re in a pre-trial stage right now with our current litigation, so it’s a lot of hurry up and wait."

Armitage takes the sharpie from his pocket again. Taking the flyer back from Kylo, he adds a notation, then folds the paper and hands it back to Kylo.

"Well, as I said, I'm in town until the beginning of December," He says with a flirtatious flutter of his long eyelashes. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime. Soon."

Kylo blinks, unsure if what he thinks is happening, is actually happening. Armitage rolls his eyes, a fond smile on his lips.

"Like maybe I'll see you tonight? For a drink?"

_Oh._

"Oh. Ah, yes, that would be great." Kylo babble, his usual eloquence momentarily lost. “Tonight is great.”

"Great." Armitage echoes. He grins again at Kylo, as if he's both delighted and charmed. "Hopefully I'll hear from you soon."

With a swirl of his coat, Armitage turns and swans off down the street leaving a stunned and blushing Kylo in his wake. Kylo unfolds the paper in his hand to find that Armitage has added his phone number to his signature. His stomach does a funny sort of flutter.

Maybe, Kylo decides, pamphlet duty isn't so bad after all.

\----

Kylo sits in a corner booth in a dimly lit and intimate part of Six Acres, his leg dancing a jig beneath the table.

Earlier today, as he’d watched Armitage walk away from him, Kylo had pulled out his phone and with his pulse jumping excitedly, quickly googled him.

Armitage Hux. The gilded star of stage and screen; much-sought-after, award-winning actor; in demand and adored by everyone, apparently, is in town filming a movie. And Kylo, inexplicably, has a date with him.

Kylo spins his glass tumbler in the small pool of condensation on the table in front of him, then tears his napkin to shreds. Would Armitage actually show up? Maybe he'd changed his mind after he’d come to his senses and realized that a whole evening spent with someone who was as obviously pop culture deficient as Kylo would be dull. Who wanted to date a lawyer constantly on his soapbox anyway? 

Kylo’s fears are alleviated, and his heart thrums rapidly in his chest as the door opens and he sees the hostess directing Armitage towards Kylo's booth. The graceful man weaving around tables and other patrons with a heart-achingly open and eager smile on his face is as beautiful and alluring as he was this morning, Kylo’s breath catches in his throat just the same. Armitage is dapper and sleek in skinny grey jeans, a navy sweater, and tan trench coat. His hair though, seems looser, softer, than this morning, like he'd run his fingers through it a few times. 

Armitage smooths a hand through his hair and tugs at the hem of his sweater when his eyes find Kylo's in the darkened bar. He slides into the seat next to Kylo, leaning in as if he’s about to press a hello-kiss to Kylo’s cheek, but thinks better of it at the last second. Kylo ignores the butterflies swarming against his ribs and leans forward to press a kiss to Armitage's temple but he misses entirely and gets the corner of his eye instead. He pulls back, embarrassed.

"Sorry, I meant to not do that."

Armitage giggles as he waves it off. "It's fine."

"So, I looked you up afterwards," Kylo says, getting right to the point.

"Ah, so you've discovered I'm not actually a banker."

"You're an actor."

Armitage nods. "I am, what do you think of that?" He sidles closer to Kylo on the bench.

"I haven't seen many of your movies," Kylo apologizes. "It's not that I don't want too, I just don't have a lot of time."

"Always fighting the good fight?"

"Yes," Kylo says seriously. "Protecting the environment is a full-time job."

Armitage presses closer and closer until finally, Kylo has no choice but to sling his arm around his shoulders, there's nowhere else to rest his arm. The server comes over at this point to take Armitage's drink order. She does a double take when she recognizes his face but thankfully is professional enough not to let her surprise show for more than an instant. Her eyes, however, quickly fly to Kylo, judging and assessing him, his clothes, his hair, his arm casually around Armitage's shoulders. She takes the order with a brisk nod, then spins away to return to the bar.

"So," Kylo drawls, dragging out the vowel sound nervously, " do you want to tell me about your latest project?"

God, he sounds like a total dullard. Where has his cool head and wit flown too? He’s stared down some of the most powerful people in the country in court, but one lovely, handsome man batts his pretty lashes at him and Kylo goes to pieces.

"I'd rather hear about your work if you don't mind." Armitage places a hand carefully on Kylo's knee, squeezing encouragingly. “It sounds fascinating."

They spend the evening talking and laughing, whispering together like school kids. Armitage's hand never once wavers from its place on Kylo's knee, and Kylo is loathed to take his arm from around Armitage's shoulders. Armitage was interested and engaged in Kylo's work, asking smart questions and making astute observations all night long, smiling fondly when Kylo started creeping towards his soapbox once again.

Kylo hardly notices the time passing until the server comes around to announce it’s the last call. He glances over at Armitage, unsure.

"Do you want another, or should we get out of here?"

"I'm good, I had three; that was more than enough with work tomorrow."

They pay their tab and slip out into the misty, drizzling night. The streetlights are fuzzed out in the damp night as the mist curls down the street making the lights look like floating orbs. The footsteps of late night revellers are dampened and in the distance, a ship's horn sounds as it departs the harbour. It's a lonely sort of sound.

"Ah, should we-" Kylo starts, suddenly awkward. "Do you want to go somewhere else, or would you rather turn in."

Armitage takes Kylo's hand, leaning into his shoulder, he gazes at Kylo with something akin to hope, or yearning, in his eyes.

"We _could_ call it a night?" Armitage says, the question implicit in his tone.

"Or,” Kylo pauses, the unasked question on the tip of his tongue. Armitage sways infinitesimally closer as Kylo finds his words. “Do you want to come to my place? For a nightcap?"

"I'd like that."

Kylo flags down a taxi and in no time they've whisked away from the cobblestone streets and boutique warehouses of the historic neighbourhood, up the hill towards the endowment lands and the university.

The further they go from downtown, the quieter the streets become. Soon, their car is the only vehicle in sight and all the houses that border the streets are dark, their inhabitants fast asleep. Armitage hasn't let go of kylo's hand, they gaze softly at each other as the city flies by the windows while the driver listens to a late night chat show.

Finally, the car pulls into the driveway of a small house with a tall, peaked roof, set at the front of a long, narrow plot of land.

"This is me," Kylo says unnecessarily.

Armitage pays the driver and allows Kylo to help him out of the cab, the vehicle slowly backing out of the gravel driveway as soon as the door slams shut.

Kylo leads Armitage up a short set of wooden stairs to the large front porch that runs the length of the house. Once inside, he flips a couple of light switches, illuminating the large front room in a soft yellow glow.

The house is really nothing more than a glorified cabin, it's one floor with a living room and kitchen, bathroom and pantry on the ground floor, then a short flight up steps leads to an exposed loft that functions as Kylo's bedroom. The ground floor is dominated by a large fireplace on the long wall, bordered on one side by a bookcase and filing cabinets for the Foundations paperwork, and a large print of the sun rising over the mountains on the other side.

"This is beautiful," Armitage breathes, "it's all yours?"

He turns to take in the large windows along the front of the room, with the comfortable blue velvet sofa in front of it. His gaze travels to Kylo’s orderly, but overburdened desk beside them, and to the galley style kitchen along the back wall where the windows face the dark and rainy backyard. He turns back to Kylo, an eyebrow quirked, waiting for an answer.

"Yes," Kylo says, leading Armitage further into the main room. "The house was actually built by my great grandparents when they first moved here from Montreal. I don't even think Vancouver was a city back then."

"So this is your family's house?"

Kylo nods. "It's past from my great grandparents all the way down to me. There's a heritage plaque somewhere on the side of the building - due to the age of the house and its history as the site of the birth of the Organa Foundation."

Kylo leaves Armitage to explore the main room while he goes to the kitchen to see if he has anything worth drinking in stock. He didn't often have guests over. Most men and women are initially excited to learn that Kylo is a lawyer, but the attraction always dims considerably when they discover he's not the type of lawyer that makes a lot of money - despite the location and appearance of his home.

He returns to the main room with two glasses of decent whiskey to find Armitage examining his framed diplomas showing off his impressive and expensive education at the University of Toronto and then law school at Osgoode Hall, as well as his certificates calling him to the bar in both Ontario and British Columbia. Armitage turns as Kylo approaches.

"You're very impressive." He accepts the glass with a nod of thanks then waves at the framed ephemera.

"Ah, I didn't really care if they were framed, it was Leia's idea."

They sip their drinks in silence for a few moments, Armitage smiling at him over the rim of his glass.

"Do you want to come to bed?" Kylo asked, nervous that he's being too forward.

Armitage quietly takes Kylo's glass from his hand, Kylo can see the barest of tremor in those long elegant hands and places them on the desk behind them.

"I'd like that very much," he replies, swaying closer to Kylo. He slides his hands up Kylo's chest to his shoulders and pushes his blazer off his shoulders. Catching it before it lands on the floor, Armitage hangs it over the back of the desk chair. "These poor buttons," he says as he walks his fingers down Kylo's chest, "they've been working hard all night, let's set them free." With deft hands, he pops open the top button of Kylo's shirt.

Kylo giggles softly. "That's the best you've got? I thought I'd read you were some sort of stage siren?"

Armitage glances up at him from beneath his lashes. "I'm just excited." He bites his lip. "Is that uncool of me to say?"

"Not at all." Kylo cups Armitage's face so that he can gently press a kiss to Armitage's rosy, plump mouth.

In unspoken agreement, they move together towards the stairs, Kylo turning off the lights as they go.

Upstairs in the loft bedroom, they take great pleasure in unwrapping each other, revealing pale, warm skin an inch at a time. Finally, Armitage is nude and falling back on the bed, his skin tinged in silver from the moonlight flooding through the skylights. Kylo slips off the last of his clothes and follows Armitage down onto the bed, pressing close between his legs.

Kylo kisses him and kisses him, and kisses him.

\----

The next morning, Saturday dawned rainy and overcast. Kylo awakens to the drumbeat of the rain on the wooden shingles of the roof above and the patter of water on the evergreens that flank the house. Fortunately, Kylo’s only obligations today included various phone calls to Rey, to the R.C.M.P. to try to arrange something for Finn, Rose, and Kate. The authorities would never be so reckless as to try to arrest Rey - she’s far too high profile and well-liked throughout the community - but the other members of the Foundation are not as lucky. Kylo also has to call Leia because, even though retired, she likes to be kept in the loop. But after all that work, he’s got the day to himself.

His hand slides across the cool sheets, finding no warm and naked sleeping companion, only rumpled sheets. Kylo sighs. Of course, Armitage tiptoed out early, he has to work, and probably couldn't risk being seen slinking away from a stranger’s house in the small hours of the morning.

Kylo rolls to the side of the bed and sits up. Scrubbing his hands through his tangled hair, he sighs again. Heaving himself to his feet, he tugs on his black boxers and finds a hair tie from the dish on the bureau. As he pulls his hair back into a top knot, he realizes it’s past the time he got it cut - the court would only tolerate his longish hair for so long. As he stands, he glances over the balustrade into the room below and his heart leaps into his throat.

Armitage is still here and curled up in a corner of the blue sofa, long legs pulled up beneath him, wearing Kylo’s plaid shirt from yesterday and cradling a cup of coffee as he gazes serenely out the big front window. And now that Kylo has been fully jolted awake, he realizes that the scent of fresh coffee permeates the entire house. He clatters down the stairs causing Armitage to turn at the racket. He smiles softly as Kylo approaches and then gets to his feet.

“Good morning,” He says, pressing the coffee cup into Kylo’s hand. “I hope you don’t mind I snooped around the kitchen a bit.”

“You’re still here!” Kylo pants breathlessly, hardly daring to believe his good luck.

Armitage, however, misunderstands him, his sleep-tumbled, pleasure-drunk expression snaps away instantly, replaced with something sad and lonely.

“Oh, I can go, if you want.”

Kylo all but throws his coffee cup onto the desk and sweeps Armitage up into his arms in one smooth movement. He slides his hands over the ripe curves of Armitage’s backside and hauls him up so that Armitage is forced to wrap his long legs around Kylo’s hips.

“That’s not what I meant,” Kylo mumbles into the curve of Armitage’s neck as he carries him into the kitchen and places him gently on the island. “Would you like to stay for breakfast?”

“I’d love too, thank you.” Armitage loops his arms around Kylo’s neck, holding him close and twirling the loose strands of Kylo’s hair around his fingertips, tugging gently.

“Would you come back after you finish filming for today?”

Armitage giggles softly and nods, pleased.

“Do you want to stay forever?”

Armitage surges up to capture Kylo’s mouth in a heated kiss. “I’d love that too, thank you.”

He grins against Kylo’s smiling mouth and suddenly, the idea of breakfast is entirely forgotten.


End file.
